Mansfield Middle Schoolers Place In Creative Art, Writing Contest

MANSFIELD-STORRS, CT — Four Mansfield Middle School students have won awards in a statewide creative arts contest with 975 entrants, the school announced.

The students placed in Connecticut's chapter of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a nationwide competition established in 1923 that challenges middle- and high-schoolers to express themselves through art and creative writing.

This year, Mansfield eighth-grader Sophie Marcus won a "Gold Key" for her poem "Frozen," which also earned her a nomination for the American Voices Award.

The Gold Key is a "top award" in the competition, Mansfield Middle School officials said. It means Marcus will advance to the national competition and her poem will be automatically considered for national awards such as gold and silver medals.

A video of Sophie reading her poem can be found here.

She wasn't the only award-winner, though: Seventh-grader Alice Han earned two Silver Keys for her poems titled "Her Story" and "Behind Closed Doors."

Additionally, seventh-grader Ella Gan and eighth-grader Kalyani Tihaiya earned honorable mentions: Tihaiya for her poem "Parasailing," and Gan for both her art piece "Education Should Not Be Manipulation" and her story "The World Beyond."

The students were honored at an awards ceremony for the state's winners, which the Connecticut Writing Project at UConn hosted this week.